White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt concisely dismissed a reporter on Wednesday when she was asked if the president supports the right to peaceful protest.

The moment came during a press briefing at the White House on Wednesday. Asked to clarify what kind of protest President Donald Trump “would find acceptable,” Leavitt drew the line at violence.

“The president absolutely supports peaceful protests. He supports the First Amendment. He supports the right of Americans to make their voices heard,” said Leavitt.

“He does not support violence of any kind. He does not support assaulting law enforcement officers who are simply trying to do their job. It’s very clear for the president what he supports and what he does not,” she continued. “Unfortunately for Democrats, that line has not been made clear, and they’ve allowed this unrest and this violence to continue, and the president has had to step in.”

Asked if the president would support peaceful protesting during the military parade scheduled for Saturday, Leavitt dismissed the question.

“Of course, the president supports peaceful protests. What a stupid question,” she said before moving on to the next reporter.

Q: So if there were peaceful protests on Saturday for the military parade the president would allow that?

.@PressSec Karoline Leavitt: "Of course the president supports peaceful protests. What a stupid question." pic.twitter.com/QzjOIVoUlJ

— CSPAN (@cspan) June 11, 2025

On Tuesday, Trump said in remarks from the Oval Office that protesters during the parade to honor the United States’ 250th birthday would be met with “great force.” He made the threat after detailing the violence and riots that have broken out in Los Angeles in recent days, and praising military personnel and law enforcement that have stepped up to restore law and order to the area.

“For those people that want to protest, they’re going to be met with very big force,” said Trump. “And I haven’t even heard about a protest, but you know, this is people that hate our country, but they will be met with very heavy force.”

The president also said that money is behind some of the violence going on in Los Angeles. Trump said that some of the demonstrators “are paid insurrectionists. These are paid troublemakers.”

David Hogg, of 1270 SAT fame, who was elected Democratic National Committee Vice-Chair earlier this year, saw his job evaporate on Wednesday, as the DNC voted overwhelmingly to hold new elections for the position.

“In a 294-99 vote that concluded Wednesday, DNC members agreed to move forward with redoing the contest earlier this year that elected Hogg and another Democrat, Malcolm Kenyatta, as vice chairs,” The Washington Post reported. “The DNC will now vote from Thursday through Saturday — and then Sunday through Tuesday — to fill the two slots, which both men can seek again.”

In April, Hogg’s group, Leaders We Deserve, revealed it would spend $20 million to primary “out-of-touch, ineffective” incumbent House Democrats. Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Ken Martin said he gave Hogg an ultimatum, recalling, “As I’ve said to him, ‘If you want to challenge incumbents, you’re more than free to do that, but just not as an officer of the DNC, because our job is to be neutral arbiters. We can’t be both the referee and also the player at the same time. You have to make a decision.’”

Kalyn Free of Oklahoma, an activist who had aimed for the position of DNC Vice Chair, claimed the DNC broke its rules on gender diversity in the election that handed Hogg his seat. In May, the DNC Credentials Committee then agreed to hold new elections.

“Today, the DNC took its first steps to remove me from my position as Vice Chair At-Large. While this vote was based on how the DNC conducted its officers’ elections, which I had nothing to do with, it is also impossible to ignore the broader context of my work to reform the party which loomed large over this vote,”  Hogg said.

“I ran to be DNC Vice Chair to help make the Democratic Party better, not to defend an indefensible status quo that has caused voters in almost every demographic group to move away from us,” he added. “The DNC has pledged to remove me, and this vote has provided an avenue to fast-track that effort.”

Hogg became a famous gun control proponent after surviving the 2018 Parkland high school shooting. For a review of his history of outrageous statements, see here.

Leif Le Mahieu contributed to this article.

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